3 Ch. 3 Goblin King

It was still early in the day, so I decided to spend some more time hunting. I almost had enough leather to make outfits for each of my Goblins, having them walking around in just loincloths was okay, but if they were going to be the backbone of my army, they would look like it. Besides, I wanted to use my new tracking skills.

So we hunted all day, my Hunter skill rising as I was able to track more and more animals, mostly deer and rabbits, bagging enough not only for outfits for everyone, but bags for them and a saddle and saddlebags for Spike. I knew it was enough because of my Leatherworker skill telling me so. It took me two days to make everything and that was without hunting, but it was gratifying work. Not only did I raise my skills to 20 and beyond, except Hunter, but my Goblins looked fierce. They were each wearing Leather armor that covered them from head to toe and the saddle and saddlebags for Spike worked wonders. I could ride him now, although it was awkward at first.

Once everyone was suited up and slung their backpacks on with the smoked and dried meat rations I had been making, we headed out. Each backpack had a waterskin, each saddlebag as well. The rest of the space was filled with smoked and dried out meat, I still hadn't found any Garlic, but I was slowly getting used to the taste. I used my Hunter skill to start tracking a big beast we had seen the other day. It had looked like a Panther, but as big as Spike with six legs instead of four. It hadn't come close to the fire, but it had been watching me all night, one of the reasons I had lazed about in camp the next day, I hadn't slept that night.

It took well over three hours, which I was becoming accustomed to guessing having only the suns and moon for a point of reference for time. We finally found where it's lair was. It was a large cave, riddled with bones of all sorts of animals at the entrance to the cave. I climbed down off of Spike and got everyone set up to ambush the creature by hiding behind trees. As soon as we were ready Spike let out a massive roar, birds fled and animals skittered away. Then we heard it, the creature growling. It came out of the cave, staring straight at Spike and me. It was definitely bigger than Spike. I used Inspect and gulped audibly.

LINNESH LEVEL 10

ATTACK 22

DEFENCE 18

HEALTH 24

MANA 10

The only ones who could do any damage would be my Goblins, the rest of my team would barely be able to survive. I struggled with indecision for a moment, then gathered up my courage and gave out orders. "Spike, Wall I want you to tank hard. Wolves, try and pin its legs as best you can, Jack, help the wolves. Goblins, take it down."

My summons all moved as one, Spike and Wall shouting and taunting the creature, trying to take aggro. It flickered for a moment, then appeared behind Spike, slashing at his back leg, taking it off in one slash. Spike roared loudly as he kicked at it, it flickered and disappeared again. It bit into Jack, taking off a leg and throwing him into a tree. 3 more Flickers and 3 wolves were barely standing. Then it charged, seeming to run out of Mana. As awesome as that initial display was, I had to believe it didn't see the Goblins as a threat until it's health started to go down, because it had completely ignored them. Each slash, poke and smash from my Goblins was working it down slowly, one of it's legs hanging uselessly. Then another, and finally another, it had no way of supporting it's right side, falling to the ground. Everyone pounced at that point and it fell within seconds.

YOU HAVE SLAIN LENNISH LEVEL 10

+1350 EXPERIENCE

YOU HAVE LEVELED TO LEVEL 11

+3 ATTRIBUTE POINTS

+1 FEAT

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TURN LENNISH THE LINX INTO SUMMON CARD?

YES/NO

There was absolutely no way I was picking no. I chose yes, then grinned from ear to ear as it turned into a card and flew into my deck. 10 Mana to call it out and I had the strongest monster I had seen thus far. I read over its stats and abilities and grinned when I saw its spell.

Flit - This spell allows the user to teleport to any spot within a ten foot radius than it can see. Costs 2 Mana.

Another Notification popped up.

YOU HAVE MET THE PREREQUISITES FOR MULTIPLE EVOLUTIONS AMONG YOUR MONSTERS. PLEASE CHOOSE EVOLUTION PATH.

That floored me for a moment, so I focused on the word Evolution.

Evolution allows monsters to evolve once they reach a certain strength. Some monsters have more evolution paths than others, choose wisely what you evolve your monsters into.

Looking at my monsters, all my Goblins could evolve, my first three wolves and Jack. The animals had 2 possibilities. Dire or Shadow. Dire seemed to be just a larger more aggressive version, whereas shadow would allow them to be stealthier, at the cost of Mana. I hadn't upgraded their Mana yet, but I had 3 points for each, so I gave Stalker 3 Mana and made him a Shadow Forest Wolf, while Jack and the other 2 wolves were made Dire. My Goblins however had 3 paths, Soldier, which made them bigger and gave their weapons more reach, Shield Bearer which made them stockier and have them an actual shield or Striker, which made them leaner and more agile. I grinned as Wall became a Shield Bearer, his pot lid being replaced with a 3 foot tall 2 foot wide metal shield, his club becoming studded. Zidane I made a Striker, his form growing slightly taller and his muscles becoming more compact, his twin daggers now the size of short swords. Gobra Became a Soldier, hitting 5 feet tall and holding a honest to goodness longsword in one hand and a buckler in the other. Bash grew just as tall, his wooden club growing with him and becoming spiked all along it's surface. Gobtu hit 4 and a half feet, only a foot taller than he had been, but his spear morphed and became what looked like a Guan Dao, which he spun and wielded with ease.

Not only did they get bigger and look cooler, but their mana cost stayed the same and their Attribute point gain per level doubled at level 10. Mine did too, so I invested all 4 into Mana, making sure I had enough Mana on hand to summon my monsters. I also had a feat available, so I looked at my options and saw Cost Reduction and No Mana's Land still there, but Affinity wasn't. However a new one had appeared.

Save Yourself - Allows you to designate one monster as a shield. Any damage you take will be passed onto this monster. This bypasses all defence and directly affects target monster's health.

It was definitely a useful feat and would save me from taking damage. I almost wanted to take No Mana's Land for Lennish, but decided not to, who knew if I would get an even stronger monster, I hoped I would and if not, I could still choose it later. So I took Save Yourself. I designated Wall as my damage taker, a golden glow falling over both of us. When the glow faded I could see a thin golden thread connecting the two of us. I smiled as I unsummoned and began re summoning all of my injured monsters. It took a little bit, but they were all finally resummoned, including Lennish. Then Zidane spoke, the first time one of my monsters had ever spoken. "Master, Goblins come. I can hear them in the woods."

I looked at him oddly for a moment, "You can speak?" He smiled and nodded "Evolution helps us become more. Shall we hide or ambush them?" I listened for a moment, finally hearing the chittering of the Goblins closing in. "Ambush them, but keep one alive. We need to find where their main base is." My monsters all nodded and spread out, Spike lowering himself so I could climb on his back. It was a group of 20 Goblins, all level 2 and 3. They would give us no experience, but could provide intel. Once we were close enough we pounced. It took one to two hits for most of them and we easily dispatched them. Lennish came back to the cave with one in her mouth, dropping it in front of the cave.

It's arms were broken and one of it's legs was facing the wrong way. I nodded to Zidane who walked up to the Goblin with an evil smile. "Tell us where your base is and I will end you quick." The Goblin hurriedly squeaked out a response, Zidane nodding as it did. Once it was done speaking he stabbed it in the heart, it died instantly. Zidane walked over to me "To the north, this way Master." I nodded and followed on Spike's back.

It took two hours to get to the Goblin camp. I say camp because it looked hastily made, with tarps and canvases making tents, no permanent buildings. There was a cave entrance in the hill the camp was formed around and I could see all manner of Goblins arguing, fighting, fornicating and I assume just being Goblins. I didn't realize until this moment though, but the Goblins didn't look hideous at all. I hadn't really paid attention to the ones we killed and my summons all looked fairly good, no warts or pustules like you would imagine. The most surprising part was the females. Now I'm not saying they were prettier than humans, or my wife for that matter, that thought not stinging like it should, but they looked pretty.

"I didn't know Goblins could look so pretty." I said aloud and Zidane chuckled "Master has been reading too many stories. These are the commoners among Goblins, the real prizes are in that cave. The Chieftain makes all the best looking females into his Harem." I shook my head at that, of course the Chieftain would have a harem. The levels of these Goblins were all below 5, except a few holding weapons, they were between 6 and 9. "Alright then, it looks like there's somewhere around 50 Goblins down there right now. We will spy on them today, then decide on a plan of action tonight." Zidane and the rest nodded, all of us getting comfortable.

For the next 4 hours we watched, making sure to keep track of what we could. The entire camp consisted of at least 76 different Goblins, only 5 of them Level 10, the rest would be easily beaten. We hadn't seen the Chieftain or any other stronger Goblins. Those 5 were all soldiers, each wielding a sword, but being lackadaisical in their guard duties. We were outnumbered by a lot, but from my inspect skill, which was now level 35 after using it on every Goblin I could see, none of them had a high enough attack to hurt my monsters, except the Soldiers, those would be the first to go. As night came we got ready, most of the Goblins going to bed or sitting around campfires getting drunk.

Once it was fully night-time, the moon lighting everything with a low light, we attacked. Lennish and Zidane flew through the camp, taking out the Soldiers with ease, then we began our slaughter. There was very little resistance put up by the Goblins in the camp, making the work quick. It took all of 2 minutes for my monsters to wipe out the camp. As the last of the Goblins outside the cave fell I heard a growl from inside the cave. it was a hoarse sound and it was growing louder, with multiple sets of feet coming out. 11 in total.

The Chieftain was definitely not what I expected, covered heat to toe in what looked to be Studded Leather, he was in one word, ripped. Muscles on top of muscles. I used Inspect.

GOBLIN CHIEFTAIN ZASH LEVEL 18

ATTACK 22

DEFENCE 20

HEALTH 26

MANA 6

He was holding a Warhammer in each hand. On each side of him were 5 per side, Soldiers, all dressed in the same Studded Leather. They were all level 15, although their stats weren't as impressive as Zash's. The only ones who had a chance to take him down were my Goblins and Lennish. "Who are you to come to my lair and kill my Goblins? Filthy human summoner. You will die tonight." As he said that I was already making a plan for how to deal with him. "Lennish, you and Zidane take on Zash, the rest of you take on each of the Soldiers. Jack will be the odd man and help you take down your opponents. Lennish, Flit."

The Chieftain was powerful, but he wasn't as fast as Lennish. Zidane using her distraction to stab him in vulnerable areas as she flitted and charged. He had a lot of health, but it was nowhere near enough to be able to survive the onslaught, although he did manage to get 3 good smacks in on Lennish before he collapsed from his wounds. The rest of the team finished off their opponents as well, all the Soldiers laying dead on the ground.

YOU HAVE SLAIN GOBLIN RUNT×76

+2000 EXP

YOU HAVE SLAIN GOBLIN SOLDIER ×10

+10000 EXP

YOU HAVE SLAIN GOBLIN CHIEFTAIN

+3000 EXP

YOU HAVE LEVELED TO LEVEL 21

+24 ATTRIBUTE POINTS

+2 FEAT

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TURN GOBLIN RUNT (×5), GOBLIN SOLDIER (×2), GOBLIN CHIEFTAIN ZASH INTO SUMMON CARDS?

YES/NO

I couldn't help but grin, of course I would turn all of them into Summon Cards, with my Goblin affinity they would become super powerful. I decided to deal with the attributes and feats once we were done exploring the cave.

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